Phonograph-record album



F. w SEA. PHONOGRAPH RECORD ALBUM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, I920.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

envelopes,

FREDERICK W. SEA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PI-IONOGBAlH-RECOBD ALBUM.

1,424h78tl.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

Application filed July 31, 1920. Serial No. 400,429.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. SEA, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonograph-RecordAlbums, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to phonograph record albums and may be consideredas an improvement over the construction disclosed in the co-pendingapplication of Philip N. Sea, Serial Number 388,418, filed June 12th,1920. The important feature of the invention in this copendingapplication is the provision of tabs secured to the upper walls of therecord-containing envelopes so that raising of a tab will raise the topwall of the corresponding envelope to expose the record.

One of the important objects of my invention is to provide improvedmeans for more securely affixing'and strengthening the tabs for openingthe respective record containing and at the same time to provideimproved construction for assuring wider opening of the envelopes whenthe tabs are raised so that records can be more easily and readilyinserted or withdrawn. To accomplish these results I glue or otherwisesecure together the adjacent walls of envelopes along a longitudinalmedian section, and at their front ends I secure between these walls thetabs by means of which the envelopes are to be opened. By thus securingthe on velopes together, the lower walls thereof are held back whentheir upper walls are raised by means of the tabs and the envelopes areopened wide enough to make 7 the records readily accessible.

Another important object of my invention is to leave the envelopes freeat their edges, particularly at their inner ends, so that the recordswill not be strained but can slide and rest freely in the envelopes. Inthe copending application referred to, the envelopes at their inneredges are secured to be hinged to the back section of the coverstructure. In my improved arrangement the envelopes are not secured tothe cover structure at their inner edges but the top and bottomenvelopes of a book are glued or otherwise secured to the top and.bottom member of the cover structures.

On the accompanying drawings I show an album constructed in accordancewith my invention. On this drawing Fig. l is a plan view with partbroken away,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on plane 2-2, on Fig. 1 showing the envelopesempty,

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view showing the envelopes filled, and

Fig. 4: is an enlarged sectional view show ing the manner of securingtogether the envelopes and the'tabs thereto.

In the structure shown the base part 5 of the cover structure ispreferably of stiff material, and likewise the top member 6, thesemembers being connected by the back member 7 suitably hinged thereto atthe points 8 and 9. Between the base and cover members is arranged astack of envelopes 10 all of the same size and offset longitudinally soas to underlap at their front ends to leave spaces 11 on which may bewritten or printed index or other information concerning the record inthe envelope. The envelopes are open at their front ends and closed atthe other edges and at their rear edges as well as at the other edgesthey are entirely free, the rear edges extending to the back section 7but being in no wise connected therewith or secured thereto.

The adjacent lower and upper walls of the envelopes are glued orotherwise secured together along a longitudinal median section, and suchsecuring may extend to the rear edge of the envelope or only part way asindicated at m Fig l. The upper wall of the upper envelope and the lowerwall of the lower envelope are respectively secured to the cover andbase sections as indicated at y and 2. Between the glued together lowerand upper walls of adjacent envelopes a tab 12 is secured, the tab forthe upper envelope being secured between the upper wall of the envelopeand the cover, as best shown in Fig. 1. With this arrangement when anyone tab is grasped and raised the upper wall of the respective envelopetogether with all envelopes above it are raised, and as the lower wallof the envelope is connected with the upper wall of the envelope below,the envelope is opened wide for the quick and ready insertion orwithdrawal of a record. If there is a record in an envelope when its Istrength being necessary as when the album is full of records all therecords over a certain tab must be raised when such tab is pulled toopen the corresponding envelope. The tabs are placed at or near thecenter of the front edges of the envelopes and the envelopes are ofsuchlength that the records will extend well to such front edges. Thenwhen a tab is raised it engages around the front edge of the respectiverecord and this relieves the envelope of considerable strain andprevents tearing ,or loosening of the tab away from the envelope. '1alsopreferably provide sight notches 12 in the front edges of theupperwalls of the envelopes in which notches the front edges of recordsappear when in the envelopes so that the user can determine whether ornot a record is in place.

' As records are inserted in the envelopes the back section Tresumes aninclined positiontFig. 3) so as to permit the envelopes to at all timeshe entirely flat. To limit the degree of opening of thealbum a cord 18may be connected betweenthe base and cover" members 5 and 6. Such cordmay be secured in any convenient manner and a cord maybe provided ateach side of the album. As" shown the ends of the cord are extendedthrough holes 14 and 15 in the base and cover members and are thensecured to such members at the inside thereof.

I'thus produce a simple, strong and eflicie'nt album for phonographrecords of which the envelopes can be readily opened to a sufficientwidth for insertion or withdrawal of records by merely grasping andpulling on a tab. The envelopes being free at all their edges can alwayslie flat so that insertion or withdrawal of records can read ily beaccomplished and without strain to the records.

Having described my invention I claim as follows:

1. In a phonograph record album, the

combination of a stack ofenvelopes having their adjacent walls securedtogether, and tabs at the open ends of theenvelopes secured between saidwalls.

2 A container device comprising a tier of envelopes having theiradjacent walls se cured together near the open edges thereof, and tabssecured between said walls by means of which the envelopes may beopened. j

A container" structure comprising a plurality of envelopes open at oneend and arranged one'on'top of the other, tabs between said envelopes atthe open edges thereof, the adjacent walls near said open edges beingsecured together and to said tabs.

4. In a phonograph record album, the combination with a cover structurecomprising top, bottom and back members, of a plurality of envelopesarranged one above the other within said cover structure andentirelyfree at their edges from such structure, said envelopes at their frontends being open and the adjacentwalls at said. ends; being securedtogether nearthe medianline of the envelope, the upper and lowerenvelopes being secured to the top and bottom members of the. coverstructure, and envelope-opening tabs secured between the envelope walls.

5. In a phonograph record album, the combination with a cover structurecomprising top, bottom and back sections hinged together, of a pluralityof envelopes ar ranged one above the other-and offset longtitudi'nallyin order to underlap at their front ends, said envelopes being open'attheir front ends and their adjacent walls at said ends being connectedtogether a distance along the median lines'of the envelope, the upperand lower envelopes being secured respectively to the top and bottommembers of the cover structure, said envelopes being free at theirsidesand rear ends from each other and. from the cover structure, andmeans for limiting the opening of said cover structure. a I 6.111 aphonograph record album, the combination of a plurality of envelopeseach adapted to receive a phonograph record, said envelopes beingarranged one above the other and offset longitudinally to underlap attheir open ends, said envelopes being secured together along medianareas within their sides just sufficiently to prevent relativedisplacement thereof and to permit separation thereof at the sideswhenthe album is open, and a cover structure comprising top and bottomsections secured to the top and lowermost envelopes respectively. v

7. In a phonograph record album, the combination of a plurality ofenvelopes each arranged one above the other and each adapted to containa record, said envelopes being offset longitudinally in order to.

underlap short distances at their open ends,-

said envelopes being secured. together in wardlyof their ends justsufficiently to pre.--. vent lateral relative displacement thereof, anda tab for each envelope secured tothe top wall thereof and to the lowerwall of,

the next above envelope. v

In witness whereof, Ihereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of July,A- D, 1920..

FREDERICK W. SEA.

